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Found 127 results
  1. News Article
    Patients in England are set to benefit from a radical new project that will look to identify innovative new methods of preventing cardiovascular disease, as the Department of Health and Social Care appoints the first ever Government Champion for Personalised Prevention. John Deanfield CBE, a Professor of Cardiology at University College London, has been asked by the health secretary to explore how the potential of technology and data can be properly harnessed to allow people to better look after their health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Professor Deanfield will spearhead a taskforce comprised of experts in everything from policy and technology to economics and behavioural science to deliver a range of recommendations that will lay the foundations for a modern, tailored cardiovascular disease prevention service. The Government say the recommendations will: Identify breakthroughs in predicting, preventing, diagnosing and treating risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Advise on how public services, businesses and the population can be encouraged to support prevention outside the NHS. Use personalised data to predict and manage disease more effectively. Bring care closer to homes and communities by establishing new partnerships that advance the way preventative services are delivered. Evaluate how this strategy for cardiovascular disease prevention may impact conditions with shared risk factors. Read full story Source: NHE, 7 March 2023
  2. News Article
    Wearable fitness and wellness trackers could interfere with some implanted cardiac devices such as pacemakers, according to a study. Devices such as smartwatches, smart rings and smart scales used to monitor fitness-related activities could interfere with the functioning of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) such as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) devices, the study published in the Heart Rhythm journal found. Researchers found that the electrical current used in wearable smart gadgets during “bioimpedance sensing” interfered with proper functioning of some implanted cardiac devices from three leading manufacturers. Lead researcher, Dr Benjamin Sanchez Terrones, of the University of Utah. said the results did not convey any immediate or clear risks to patients who wear the trackers. However, the different levels of electrical current emitted by the wearable devices could result in pacing interruptions or unnecessary shocks to the heart. Further research was needed to determine the actual level of risk". “Our research is the first to study devices that employ bioimpedance-sensing technology as well as discover potential interference problems with CIEDs such as CRT devices. We need to test across a broader cohort of devices and in patients with these devices. Collaborative investigation between researchers and industry would be helpful for keeping patients safe,” Sanchez said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 February 2023
  3. Content Article
    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) causes 1 in 4 deaths in England, and is a leading cause of morbidity, disability and health inequalities. The Covid-19 pandemic has added to the urgency of tackling CVD because CVD significantly increases the risk of severe disease and death from Covid-19. This report by The King's Fund looks at published data, literature, policy and evidence on CVD. The writers also carried out interviews and a workshop with key stakeholders working in health and care to inform their research.
  4. Content Article
    This video shows CCTV footage of Bob being treated for a cardiac arrest on his way to watch a football match at the AMEX stadium in Brighton. The video could be used as a training tool to show how to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED). The video highlights what the AED is analysing and then shocking, showing what happened to the electrical rhythm as it converts ventricular fibrillation (VF) to sinus rhythm. It also features the voice prompts from the cardiac arrest. Bob survived with a completely normal quality of life and was the seventh person (out of seven) at the AMEX stadium to have a cardiac arrest and survive with a normal quality of life. The video shows great team work and human factors interactions between the St John Ambulance volunteers who saved Bob's life, the stewarding team and paramedics.
  5. News Article
    During the pandemic, nearly half a million people in the UK missed out on starting medication to help prevent heart attacks and strokes, a new study suggests. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) team looked at prescribing data for the first 18 months after Covid hit. Some 491,000 people (27,000 a month) appear to have missed out on blood pressure pills, and 316,000 did not get treatment to lower their cholesterol. The team says more needs to be done to make sure that anyone who needs treatment gets it. During the pandemic, normal NHS services were severely disrupted. For example, there was a reduction in diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of high blood pressure, and other heart and circulation disease risk factors. Although the NHS took action, including providing more than 220,000 blood pressure monitors for people to use at home, data shows two million fewer people in England were recorded as having controlled hypertension in 2021 compared to the previous year. Lead investigator Prof Reecha Sofat, who is based at the University of Liverpool, said the findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, highlight the impact Covid has had on other important health conditions: "Despite the incredible work done by NHS staff, our data show that we're still not identifying people with cardiovascular risk factors at the same rate as we were before the pandemic. " Read full story Source: BBC News, 20 January 2023
  6. Content Article
    This is an Adjournment Debate from the House of Commons on Wednesday 30 November 2022 on patient safety concerns relating to the diagnosis of pulmonary embolisms.
  7. News Article
    Extreme disruption to NHS services has been driving a sharp spike in heart disease deaths since the start of the pandemic, a charity has warned. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) said ambulance delays, inaccessible care and waits for surgery are linked to 30,000 excess cardiac deaths in England. It has called for a new strategy to reduce "unacceptable" waiting times. Doctors and groups representing patients have become increasingly concerned about the high number of deaths of any cause recorded this year. New analysis of the mortality data by the BHF suggests heart disease is among the most common causes, responsible for 230 deaths a week above expected rates since February 2020. The charity said "significant and widespread" disruption to heart care services was driving the increase. Its analysis of NHS data showed that 346,129 people were waiting for time-sensitive cardiac care at the end of August 2022, up 49% since February 2020. It said 7,467 patients had been waiting more than a year for a heart procedure - 267 times higher than before the pandemic. At the same time, the average ambulance response time for a suspected heart attack has risen to 48 minutes in England against a target of 18 minutes, according to the latest NHS figures. The BHF said difficulty accessing face-to-face GP and hospital care may have also contributed to the rise. Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 November 2022
  8. Content Article
    This anonymous blog by a doctor examines the link between Covid-19 and cardiovascular disease. The author calls for greater awareness amongst healthcare professionals and the public to reduce the risk of patients experiencing cardiovascular problems during and after Covid-19 infection.
  9. News Article
    Senior doctors have sent a warning over the “shambles” of heart attack care after pressures on the NHS have left patients waiting eight hours for an ambulance. The caution comes as several hospitals in the past week have declared critical incidents over the level of pressure on their emergency care services. Portsmouth Hospital said on Monday: “Demand for an emergency response is far outstripping the capacity available in Portsmouth and South East Hampshire at this time.” Professor Mama Mamas, a consultant cardiologist in Stoke and Professor of Cardiology at Keele University, told The Independent: “I was on call this weekend and I was seeing delays of eight hours. It was several people, three or four this weekend with heart attacks that waited between four and eight hours … it’s a national disgrace that we’re in this situation. “I think that patient care is being compromised. We know that time is muscle and an eight-hour delay getting an ambulance to a patient with a heart attack is impacting on the survival levels.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 13 October 2022
  10. Content Article
    A safety alert from the US Patient Safety Authority and ECRI.
  11. Content Article
    The CVDPREVENT audit contributes to a strategic objective outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan to prevent 150,000 strokes, heart attacks and cases of dementia over the next ten years. The audit works with system partners to drive cardiovascular disease (CVD) quality improvement. Mary Wills is a patient representative for the CVDPREVENT audit, and in this blog she describes her family's experience of CVD and why she was keen to get involve in CVDPREVENT. She talks about the value of hearing from other patients and carers in the first Patient Panel meeting and being invited to contribute to CVDPREVENT Steering Group meetings.
  12. News Article
    Norfolk Community Health and Care it is using a remote monitoring service from Inhealthcare which allows patients to monitor their vital signs at home and relay readings via a choice of communication channels to clinicians who monitor trends and intervene if readings provide any cause for concern. Analysis of the six months before and after introduction showed a significant reduction in hospital bed days, A&E attendances, GP visits and out-of-hours appointments. Lead heart failure nurse at the trust, Rhona Macpherson, spoke to Digital Health News about the impact of the services on patients and nurses. For Macpherson, the service has helped promote self-management. “We give each of the patients a set of scales, blood pressure monitor and pulse oximeter and we get them to do their observations,” she said. “So we’re promoting self-management and looking at things but also it means that we can get accurate information on what’s happening with their observations. “We then set parameters to alert if they go outside of the parameters, and it just means we can intervene much more quickly than we would do, and we can see what’s going on between our visits as well as what’s happening when we’re actually there.” The service has transformed working practices for nurses, increasing efficiency and saving valuable time. Macpherson said: “We’re using the technology to try and make ourselves a little bit more efficient, so it’s saving on the travel time and face to face visits. “We can do a lot more with telephone. We’ve got the option of using video, but telephone is actually quite useful. So it’s less face to face visits, less travel and also, we’re trying to empower the patients to do their own observations and monitor themselves, rather than us just doing it for them.”
  13. Event
    until
    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity, disability and mortality in England and a significant driver of health inequalities. It disproportionately affects people in deprived and ethnic minority communities and accounts for one-fifth of the gap in life expectancy between most and least deprived areas. The NHS Long Term Plan (2019) highlights the need to prevent and manage CVD. CVD accounts for one in four of all deaths in England. The yearly health care costs related to CVD are estimated at £7.4 billion with an annual cost to the wider economy of £15.8 billion. At a time when NHS and social care workforce and finances are overstretched, urgent comprehensive action across the public health, health and care sectors is needed to significantly reduce the adverse health impacts of CVD and associated workloads and costs. Leaders and experts from across the NHS and its partners will gather to discuss how best to prioritise and deliver services to reduce the prevalence of CVD and its risk factors across the population, and to improve early detection, management and treatment of CVD and its risk factors. Register
  14. News Article
    An artificial intelligence (AI) tool that scans eyes can accurately predict a person’s risk of heart disease in less than a minute, researchers say. The breakthrough could enable ophthalmologists and other health workers to carry out cardiovascular screening on the high street using a camera – without the need for blood tests or blood pressure checks – according to the world’s largest study of its kind. Researchers found AI-enabled imaging of the retina’s veins and arteries can specify the risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular death and stroke. They say the results could open the door to a highly effective, non-invasive test becoming available for people at medium to high risk of heart disease that does not have to be done in a clinic. “This AI tool could let someone know in 60 seconds or less their level of risk,” the lead author of the study, Prof Alicja Rudnicka, told the Guardian. If someone learned their risk was higher than expected, they could be prescribed statins or offered another intervention, she said. Speaking from a health conference in Copenhagen, Rudnicka, a professor of statistical epidemiology at St George’s, University of London, added: “It could end up improving cardiovascular health and save lives.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 4 October 2022
  15. Content Article
    This article in the Daily Mail looks at the link between mild Covid infection, heart disease and other circulatory issues. The article describes the experience of TV doctor Xand van Tulleken, who suffered from recurrent atrial fibrillation after catching Covid-19 in March 2020. It then looks at the cardiovascular symptoms being reported by people with Long Covid, and highlights different research studies around the world which are establishing a link between Covid infection and cardiovascular problems.
  16. Content Article
    Women are 50% more likely to receive a wrong initial diagnosis; when they are having a heart attack, such mistakes can be fatal. People who are initially misdiagnosed have a 70% higher risk of dying. The latest studies have similarly shown that women have worse outcomes for heart operations such as valve replacements and peripheral revascularisation. As well as being misdiagnosed, women are less likely to be treated quickly, less likely to get the best surgical treatment and less likely to be discharged with the optimum set of drugs. None of this is excusable, but is it understandable? What is behind this bias and how can how it be fixed? Sian Harding, emeritus professor of cardiac pharmacology at Imperial College London, looks at the evidence in this Guardian article. Related reading Dangerous exclusions: The risk to patient safety of sex and gender bias Gender bias: A threat to women’s health Medicines, research and female hormones: a dangerous knowledge gap
  17. Content Article
    This report by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) examines the quality of care provided to patients aged 16 years and over who were admitted to hospital following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The report is based on the findings of a study that looked at the clinical care delivered to patients from the time of an OHCA to discharge from hospital or death. The review of the clinical pathway included the community and emergency service response, hospital admission and inpatient care (in particular cardiac and critical care services). Data were also collected to assess organisational aspects of care within acute hospitals.
  18. Content Article
    This National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) report reviews the quality of care of patients aged 16 and over who had a pulmonary embolism (PE), The study aimed to highlight areas where care could be improved in patients with a new diagnosis of acute PE. A retrospective case note and questionnaire review was undertaken in 526 patients aged 16 and over who had a PE, and who either presented to hospital or developed a PE whilst an inpatient for another condition. You can view and download the following documents: Full report Summary report Summary sheet Recommendation checklist Infographic Slide set Commissioners' guide Fishbone diagram Audit toolkit YouTube video: Know the Score
  19. News Article
    One in 25 people who die of a heart attack in the north-east of England could have survived if the average cardiologist effectiveness was raised to the London level, research shows. The research, undertaken by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), looked at the record of over 500,000 NHS patients in the UK, over 13 years. It highlights the stark “postcode lottery” of how people living in some parts of the country have access to lower quality healthcare. The results found that while cardiologists treating patients in London and the south-east had the best survival rates among heart attack patients, patients being treated in the north-east and east of England had the worst. Among 100 otherwise identical patients, an additional six patients living in the north-east and east of England would have survived for at least a year if they had instead been treated by a similar doctor in London. Furthermore, if the effectiveness of doctors treating heart attacks in these areas of the country were just as effective as the cardiologists in London, an additional 80 people a year in each region would survive a heart attack. The research also revealed a divide between rural and urban areas of England, with patients living in the former typically receiving treatment from less effective doctors compared with those in more urban areas. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 August 2022
  20. Content Article
    Decision support tools, also called patient decision aids, support shared decision making by making treatment, care and support options explicit. They provide evidence-based information about the associated benefits/harms and help patients to consider what matters most to them in relation to the possible outcomes, including doing nothing. NHS England has just published a suite of eight decision support tools that will help people with their healthcare professionals in clinical consultations, about their treatment choices for their condition through shared decision making. NHS England has worked with patients, patient charities health professionals and research teams over several months to develop the tools in line with NICE guidance on shared decision making standards.
  21. News Article
    Patients who contract Covid-19 are at increased risk of being diagnosed with cardiovascular disorders and diabetes in the three months following infection, although the risk then declines back to baseline levels, a large UK study has found. Researchers from King’s College London say patients recovering from Covid-19 should be advised to consider measures to reduce diabetes risk including adopting a healthy diet and taking exercise. The GP medical records from more than 428,650 Covid-19 patients were matched with the same number of controls and followed up to January 2022. All patients with pre-existing diabetes or cardiovascular disease were excluded from the study, published in the open access journal PLOS Medicine. According to the analysis, diabetes mellitus diagnoses were increased by 81% in acute covid-19 and remained elevated by 27% from 4 to 12 weeks after infection. Lead study author Emma Rezel-Potts said, “While it is in the first four weeks that covid-19 patients are most at risk of these outcomes, the risk of diabetes mellitus remains increased for at least 12 weeks. Clinical and public health interventions focusing on reducing diabetes risk among those recovering from covid-19 over the longer term may be beneficial.” The researchers said that people without pre-existing cardiovascular disease or diabetes who become infected with covid-19 do not appear to have a long term increase in incidence of these conditions. Read full story Source: BMJ, 22 July 2022
  22. Content Article
    COVID-19 has been associated with new-onset cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes mellitus (DM), but it is not known whether COVID-19 has long-term impacts on cardiometabolic outcomes. This study from Rezell-Potts et al. aimed to determine whether the incidence of new DM and CVDs are increased over 12 months after COVID-19 compared with matched controls. The study found that CVD was increased early after COVID-19 mainly from pulmonary embolism, atrial arrhythmias, and venous thromboses. DM incidence remained elevated for at least 12 weeks following COVID-19 before declining. People without preexisting CVD or DM who suffer from COVID-19 do not appear to have a long-term increase in incidence of these conditions.
  23. Content Article
    An analysis of data from nearly 154 000 US veterans with SARS-CoV-2 infection provides a grim preliminary answer to the question: What are COVID-19’s long-term cardiovascular outcomes? The study, published in Nature Medicine by researchers at the Veterans Affairs (VA) St Louis Health Care System, found that in the year after recovering from the illness’s acute phase, patients had increased risks of an array of cardiovascular problems, including abnormal heart rhythms, heart muscle inflammation, blood clots, strokes, myocardial infarction, and heart failure. What’s more, the heightened risks were evident even among those who weren’t hospitalised with acute COVID-19.
  24. News Article
    Almost 100,000 people with serious heart problems, including some “living on borrowed time”, are enduring long waits for potentially life-saving NHS care because hospitals are so busy. Some of them are in such poor health they will have a heart attack and die as a consequence of facing such “dangerous” long delays, the British Heart Foundation has warned. The number of patients in England being forced to wait more than the supposed maximum 18 weeks for cardiac treatment has trebled since Covid-19 struck, from 32,186 in February 2020 to an unprecedented 96,321, a BHF analysis of published NHS England data shows. They are waiting for procedures such as having a stent or balloon inserted to reopen a blocked artery, a pacemaker or implantable defibrillator fitted, or open heart surgery, including bypasses or valve replacement operations. Others urgently need to have an echocardiogram, CT or MRI scan to help doctors decide on treatment. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, a consultant cardiologist who is also the BHF’s associate medical director, said: “Cardiac care can’t wait. Without timely treatment, heart patients may be living on borrowed time.” “Tens of thousands of people feel in limbo, waiting many months or even years for cardiac surgery, invasive heart procedures or important diagnostic tests. During this time they could quite quickly become much sicker, and tragically some could even die before they can receive the heart care they so desperately need,” she added. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 June 2022
  25. News Article
    Heart surgery patients in London have died “unnecessarily” and faced increased risk of death as botched NHS investigations into dozens of deaths reduced a hospital’s ability to treat people, a coroner has warned. “Unnecessary” patient deaths have occurred as a result of heart surgery at St George’s University Hospital Trust being restricted and emergencies diverted to other “over stretched” hospitals, following investigations by national NHS bodies. The warning that deaths have occurred and may occur in the future, comes following the conclusion of a series of inquest hearings in March, during which it was found the NHS’ wrongly blamed a team of cardiac surgeons for the deaths of dozens of patients. Coroner Fiona Wilcox, in a report published on Wednesday, has now said the “inadequate” NHS led investigations, which criticised the care of 67 patients, led to people being put increased risk of death. The NHS’ investigations into the deaths of 67 patients ruled there were “shortcomings” in care. It led to complex operations being diverted elsewhere and doctors being referred to the General Medical Council. Two doctors have sinced been exonerated following GMC hearings. According to the coroner’s findings, capacity within cardiac surgery at the unit is down by 60% and staff are becoming “deskilled.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 May 2022
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